Will anyone get out of the Boat when they see you?
Minister Cedric Portis
12/01/02
Matthew 14:22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Matthew 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Matthew 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Matthew 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Matthew 14:29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Matthew 14:32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Matthew 14:34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
As children of God we are called in Matthew 5:14 “the light of the world.” Matthew’s Gospel further says that we should let our light so shine before men that they might see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.
The world we live in is characterized by darkness, but Jesus calls His Children light.
Peter I 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
So we are called light, chosen, peculiar. With these descriptive characterizations, the only conclusion that I can make is that there should be something different about us. There should be a distinct difference between the character and the characteristics of a child of God and the unsaved.
Our scripture today give us the account of Jesus sending the disciples in a small fishing vessel to the other side of the lake. To give you a full perspective, this account takes place immediately following the feeding of the 5 thousand.
When Jesus performed this miracle feeding, the crowd was so excited, they crowd wished to take Jesus by force and make Him king, the Messiah they had been waiting on to deliver Israel in revolt against the Romans. Meanwhile, the disciples had gotten a little caught up in the excitement; therefore Jesus in His effort to keep them focused sent them to the other side of the lake. Jesus had to refocus them away from the success of the ministry to the reality of the Miracle Worker –Jesus Himself. Christ wanted His disciples to begin learning one of the most important lessons of their lives.
That His presence would always be with them, not necessarily His physical presence, but His Spiritual presence and what they needed to do was trust Him, have faith in Him and no matter the circumstance; to follow Him.
Now back to our account, the disciples were skilled fisherman. The 4th chapter of Matthew tells us when Jesus called them they were at work fishing. One can make an observation here that with their skills as fisherman, they had sailed and fished these waters before. This body of water that they were in, being on a boat, and even facing a storm at night was nothing new to them. All of the fishing was usually done at night. Therefore, with all of these familiar things surrounding the disciples they were still in their comfort zone.
But the Bible says they soon found themselves out of their comfort zone. How do I know this because they had never faced a storm like this one before. The Bible points out that the ship was tossed with waves and the wind was contrary (going into the wind). The storm was more than they could handle and with all of their skills as fisherman exhausted, they found themselves completely at the mercy of the storm.
Now you might say how did you get all of that from these few verses. I’m glad you asked. Verse 25 records the time of day as the fourth watch of the night. This is between 3:00 – 6:00 am.
Remember the feeding of the 5,000 had just taken place so it was daylight when the disciples entered the boat. Because in verse 23 it states “when the evening was come.” So it is possible that the disciples had been trying to cross this lake for more than 8 hours. My research tells me that this lake is only 8 miles wide and with the type of boat they would have been traveling in, the trip across would normally take 2-3 hours.
So they had been fighting the storm for several hours into the night and were completely exhausted and the Bible says, then Jesus went unto them.
It is of great importance that you use your imagination picture Jesus at this moment. Look at Jesus’ state of being during this ordeal. Although Jesus has arrived on the scene the storm is still raging out of control, wind is still contrary and the waves are still tossing the ship.
But Jesus is calm, Jesus is compassionate, Jesus is focused on His disciples. The storm that is raging out of control is of no consequence to Jesus.
Can you just picture Jesus, standing firm on the water with His eyes on His disciples saying in one of the most calming and comforting voice you have ever heard; “be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.”
Now most of the sermons that I have heard and read about this account always talk about Peter’s faith or lack thereof, Peter taking his eyes off Jesus and beginning to sink.
Sermons that I have heard are telling the saved, children of God to keep their eyes on Jesus or they will sink.
I do not think telling the saved to keep their eyes on Jesus should be the primary focus when looking at this account.
Why do I say this, let’s look at the state of the disciples. They are in a boat, relying on their own skill, power and knowledge to save them. They think they have everything under control because their surrounding was familiar until a storm comes that is beyond their control, and guess what; they have no where to turn for strength, power or help; because remember they have not yet received the Holy Spirit.
So if we could look at this account allegorically, the disciples represent the unsaved; fighting trying to stay alive, relying on their own strength. The boat that they are traveling represents the world in which we live which cannot save them but gives them a false sense of security.
And the saved, sanctified, children of God are represented by Christ. We as children of God are the light of the world and we are empowered by the very Spirit of God to show Power to hold on, to be calm and of good cheer in the midst of a storm that is beyond our control.
We as children of God must understand that when a storm is raging out of control is someone’s life, they are looking for answers, they are looking for help, they are looking for a better life, they are looking for stable ground so who are they going to look to:
“Us,” the children of the All Mighty God. As children of God, we know we serve a God that is all knowing for their answers, a God that is the provider of not some but all our needs, and if you are in search of stable ground, on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand.
So as children of God, the question is one of our character and our integrity. When the world looks out of their boat and looks at you, your character and your integrity, will anyone get out of the boat and come to Christ? Or do your actions keep the unsaved in the boat of this dying world.
As Children of God, our faith has to be strong not only in the good times, but especially in the stormy times. If the world looks out of the boat and sees that the storm is affecting you just as much as they are affected, why would anyone get out of the boat? As children of God the storm will always be contrary or against us, because the Bible tells us that we are in this world but not of this world. Paul states in Romans 7:21 that he has found that when ever he does good, evil is present.
But in the midst of this contrary world, the ever present evil, we have to be blameless and above reproach as it states in Paul’s letter to Timothy. We have to show those who are holding on to this dying world that stepping out of the boat to Christ, is a step up and not a step down.
If someone is having a problem with gambling and they see you saved Child of God in the casino, they are not going to step out of the boat.
If someone has an alcohol problem and they see you child of God with what you call a social drink, they are not going to get out of the boat.
We have to show Christ to this dying world. We have to show though our character that the boat called this world is not a safe haven. What we must show the unsaved that if they want peace, strength, joy, love, calm to their storm; that the security they seek is found in Jesus and Jesus only.
We as saved, sanctified children of God are not called to win popularity contests. If you live a Christ-like life of integrity, you will be talked about, ridiculed and even ostracized by your own family. But we must be steadfast, unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. Never compromise your faith, no matter how painful, tempting or stressful the situation may be or no one will get out of the boat when they see you.
I know in certain situations that the temptation may be strong, and the devil will sit on your shoulder and whisper in your ear, “no one knows you here, you can just do whatever you feel like doing, no one will be hurt by your actions, no one knows that you are a preacher, no one knows that your are a deacon, no one knows that you are saved, You can just blend into the crowd and just do what they are doing.
There was a little boy standing on the street corner and beside him was his little dog. No this dog was just a flee bitten mutt. There was a man that came along and asked the boy, What kind of dog is this you have? The boy replied, “he is a police dog.”
Holding back his laughter, the man said son I know what a police dog looks like, I even know what a police dog acts like, this is not a police dog. The boy stuck out his chest and said to the man, “sir, he’s in the secret service.”
Listen Christ did not call us to, nor does He need a “Christian secret service.” We are called to be salt, we are called to be light, we are called to preach and win souls to Christ, we are called to impact the world.
So I don’t care how bad the storm gets in your life, you have to stand in the storm just as Jesus stood in the storm; firm, strong, and not of your own power but by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 4:19 says that we are called to be fishers of men and the catch is in the boat. One of the things that Peter is known for is walking on water as a result of his faith.
Think about this, we as children of God are walking on water right now, because we have realized that this world cannot save us and we have stepped out of the boat and put our hope and our faith in Jesus Christ.
We are walking on water right now and we need to call back to the boat for our family, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors anyone who has ears to hear we need to let them know that this world cannot save them, that salvation is only through Jesus Christ.
There was a story I heard that happened in South Carolina. A schoolhouse was on fire and children were trapped inside. The men of the town gathered at the school to see what they could do, but the flames were too hot for them to get near.
One of the men, a father saw the face of his son in those flames, and he saw his father and their eyes met and the little boy said daddy, daddy cant you save me. But the flames were such that strong men held the father back and he could not go and he had to stand there watching his son in the fire and once again the little boy cried out daddy cant you save me.
And that father stood there and could only watch as his son died in the fire crying daddy can’t you save me. That father did not live but two more years after that. Night and day he would see the face of his darling son in those flames calling out daddy can’t you save me, and he realized he was powerless to do anything about it.
And just like the father in this story the world is powerless to save you. I have seen people of this world call out to science and say science can you save me, and science says I can tell you what to do to prolong your life, but you will eventually die, I can’t save you.
People cry out to culture and they say culture can you save me, and culture says, I can tell you what to wear to cover up your sinful flesh, but I cannot take away your sin, I can even tell you how to act to be accepted by society and show you how to have a lot of fun, Culture says “all I do is make this world a better place to go to hell from”, but I can’t save you.
People call out to finance, and finance says I can show you how to gather money only to leave it all behind because this earthly money is no good in heaven, but I can’t save you.
People think all I have to do is make sense of everything so they call out to philosophy to save them, but philosophy tells them that “I can tell you more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing”, but I can’t save you.
But if the flames of your life are about to consume you, there is One who can save you. If finances have you with nowhere to turn there is One you can turn to. If that addiction or that affliction has you running around on this sinking ship with hope, no joy, no answers;
If you have realized that you are going down on the ship of this world, it is time to reach out to the only One who can save you and His name is Jesus.
Jesus will calm the storm in your life; give you hope, peace and everlasting life in Heaven. I know you may think this world is comfortable, safe and you will just be all right.
But I am here to tell you that if you have not accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior; you are going down with the ship. Now matter how luxurious your accommodations are, don’t fool yourself, you are going down with the ship if you have not trusted Jesus. Step out of the boat, right here, right now and invite Jesus into your heart.
I know it may be scary, it was for me as well. But look at Peter in verse 30. He saw a wind was boisterous, that just means that the wind was very strong, just like the forces that are pulling against you right now telling you not to give your life to Jesus.
The verse also says Peter was afraid, I was afraid its all right to be afraid because the Lord will take that fear away.
The last part of this verse says that Peter began to sink. Let me tell you that each day you stay on this boat, you will continue to sink. All you have to do right not is say as Peter said, “Lord save me”
Jesus will save you, He will take you by the hand and never let you go; He has a life raft right here waiting for you. He cannot save you unless you, by faith get off the boat.
